Screen Time: 'Operation Varsity Blues' depicts shady college scandal Jim Keogh Correspondent We all know what a back-door deal is. When getting something done legitimately is impossible, you figure out a way to circumvent the rules by using any connection at your disposal — so you avoid having the big oak front door with the gold-plated knocker slammed in your face by sneaking in through the unlocked screen door out back. (We’ve all done it. As a teenager in Rhode Island, I bought my motor vehicle inspection sticker from a guy-who-knew-a-guy because my wreck of a car was destined for rejection. A Rhode Islander was always two degrees of separation from “a guy.”)